Guard-rail for street-cars.



No. 763,723. PATENTED JUNE 28, 1904. J; J. COLLINS. GUARD RAIL FOR STREET CARS.

APPLIGATION FILED NOV. 9, 1903.

W tnesses: JiZ/EVZZOT.

. PATENTED JUNE 28, 1904.

- J. J. COLLINS.

GUARD RAIL FOR STREET CARS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9. 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

i z C. 41 0 6b 0 Cm flf f M gt a Patented June 28, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES J. COLLINS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

GUARD-RAIL FOR' STREET-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 763,723, dated June 28, 1904..

Application filed November 9, 1903. Serial No. 180,316- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES J. CoLLINs, of Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in tion of the guard-rail and means for operating it and the locking device. Fig. 8 is avertical sectional detail of the guard -rail and means for operating it, showing the locking device in side elevation, the parts of the looking device being in the position they will occupy when the guard-rail is in its elevated or out-of-use position. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional detail showing the locking device with the parts in the position they will occupy when released preparatory to lowering the guardrail when returning it to its lowermost position for use. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional detail showing the locking device with the parts in the position they will occupy when the guardrail is moving downward. Fig. 6 is a sectional detail showing a portion of the guardrail and the guides for it. Fig. 7 is a detail showing a guard for the pinion which is mounted upon and secured to'thc guard-rail.

Fig. 8 is a detail showing a modified form of guide for the guard-rail.

a representsthe usual upright posts of the car, and b the usual handles or grab-bars.

c is the guard-rail, which extendslengthwise the car between the upright posts and the grabbars,which are secured thereto, and is adapted to be moved up and down between said posts and bars, which latter serve as guides. A hand-wheel c is secured to each end of the guard-rail, by which said rail may be rotated. The rail has rigidly secured to it at or near each end and at as many other points as desired along its length a pinion c and the upright posts and also the grab-bars are grooved, as shown in Fig. 6, to form guides for the pinions, or specially-formed guides may be secured to said upright posts and grab-bars, as shown in Fig. 8, to serve as guides for the pinions. At the bottom of the groove in the upright post a rack-bar c is secured, which is engaged by the pinion 0 and the pinions are held in engagement with the rack-bar by the guides. By turning the guardrail on its axis it will be moved up and down, so as to occupy either its uppermost or lowermost position, as may be desired, and the operation may be very quickly accomplished.

When the guard-rail is in its lowermost position, it rests upon supports provided at the junction of the grab-bars and upright posts, and when said rail is in its uppermost position it is locked by a suitable locking device provided for the purpose. One of the many forms of locking devices which may be employed for this purpose is herein shown for the sake of illustrating my invention; but I desire it to be understood that I do not limit my invention to the particular form of locking device herein shown. The locking device herein shown comprises a latch (Z, pivoted at cl to the side walls of a shell (Z which is set in a recess formed in the upright post a near its upper end, or said locking device may be otherwise supported. A latch (Z normally projects from said shell into the path of movement of the guard-rail, so as to occupy a position beneath said guard-rail when the latter is in its uppermost position, and thereby hold said rail in its uppermost position; yet said latch is free to be moved inward for the passage of the guard-rail. A spring (Z is connected to said latch, the action of which is to pull upon it in such manner as to normally hold its upper end projected outwardly into the path of movement of the guard rail. Whenever the guard-rail is lifted, it engages the projecting end of the latch and passes by as the latch yields, and then as the latch slips into position beneath the guard-rail it serves to obstruct the downward movement thereof. In'Fig. 5 the latch is represented in the position it will occupy as the guard-rail moves the engaging end of the latch.

upward. To disengage the latch from the guard-rail, a releasing device is provided for said latch, which, as herein shown, comprises a bell-crank lever pivoted at a, one arm, as (2, of which projects into the path of movement of the guard-rail, and the other arm, as 6 extends downward and is connected loosely with the latch by a link 6 The projecting arm a or detent is lifted by the guard-rail by turning said guard-rail upward a short distance beyond its locked position, and when lifted the link a will thrust the lower end portion of the latch (Z outward and will withdraw the upper end portion of the latch, and thereby permit the guard-rail to be lowered. In Fig. 4 the latch is shown as withdrawn to disengage the guard-rail. When the latch is withdrawn, it is necessary to lock it in its abnormal position until the guard-rail has descended below the engaging end of the latch, and to accomplish this result a spring-acting or yielding detent f is provided at the lower end of the shell (Z when said latch is withdrawn from the path of movement of the guardrail, said detent engaging and holding the latch d while the guard-rail descends below To disengage the latch from the detent, the lower end portion of the latch has a projection (2 which is formed with an inclined side adapted to be engaged by the guard-rail as the latter descends, and as the guard-rail passes by said projection the latch will be disengaged from the detent and restored to its normal position. The pinions are guarded by curved plates 2' 2', located one above and the other below said pinion, said plates occupying positions between the upright posts and the grab-bars and held in place on the guard-rail by collars a, which are loosely mounted on said rails. The uppermost guard is preferably employed to operate the latch.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A guard-rail for street-cars movable up and down between the upright posts and grabbars, having pinions secured thereto, vertically-supported rack-bars engaged by said pinions, means for turning the guard-rail, and a locking device for locking the guardrail in its elevated position, substantially as described.

2. A guard-rail for street-cars movable up and down between the upright posts and grabbars, having pinions secured thereto, vertically-supported rack-bars engaged by said pinions, means for turning the guard-rail, guards for said pinions, and a locking device for locking the guard-rail in its elevated position, substantially as described.

3. A guard-rail for street-cars movable up and down between the upright posts and grabbars, having pinions secured thereto, vertically-supported rack-bars engaged by said pinions, means for turning the guard-rail, a locking device for locking the guard-rail in its elevated position, and means for releasing said locking device operated by the guard-rail, substantially as described.

4- A guard-rail for street-cars movable up and down between the upright posts and grabbars, having pinions secured thereto, vertically-supported rack-bars engaged by said pinions, means for turning the guard-rail, a locking device for locking the guard-rail in its elevated position, and a shell containing said locking device, substantially as described.

5. A guard-rail for street-cars movable up and down between the upright posts and grabbars, having pinions'secured thereto, vertically-supported rack-bars engaged by said pinions, means for turning the guard-rail, a pivoted latch for locking the guard-rail in its elevated'position, a releasing device for said latch, a locking device for said latch, and means for disengaging said latch from its looking device which is operated by the descending guard-rail, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES J COLLINS. Witnesses:

B. J. NOYES, L. H. HARRIMAN. 

